Winter Games’ Glitter Loses Its Glow in Salt Lake

Standing on Main Street on a recent spring evening, it’s difficult to conjure up the nighttime scene that existed here only two months ago, during the Winter Olympics: Lights, music, street theater ... people.

Now, only an hour after most offices have closed, the main pedestrian mall is deserted. Stores are shuttered. Those people who are here are waiting for the light rail train that will carry them home to the suburbs.

The post-Olympic blues have hit Salt Lake City hard, in ways many here would not have imagined.

This buttoned-up town was transformed for three weeks in February into a sophisticated, multicultural mecca. Now, everything’s back to normal and people here miss the crowds, the diversity, the excitement and the happy mess that comes with hosting an international event.

Restaurateurs and retailers long for the business the Games generated. City and state officials may regret they created such high expectations that the Olympic luster would linger after the Games.

“Everyone is talking about trying to recapture that ‘Olympic magic,’ but that just can’t happen, on any level,” said Spencer Beckstead, a business student at the University of Utah. “We need to let it go, and get back to being the same boring town that we’ve always been.”

While Salt Lake did not transform itself into an international tourism mecca, the city and state clearly benefited in other ways. Utah gained a reputation for staging the famously difficult event without a hitch. The region’s magnificent ski terrain was showcased perfectly. Volunteers were praised for their unflagging good cheer.

Another local institution--the Mormon Church--also emerged with an enhanced reputation. Many say a low-key education campaign during the Olympics dispelled misconceptions about the religion.

“I don’t think it was so much that people had a prejudice about Utah, I think they just didn’t know anything about Utah,” said Justin Williams, who is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “I think the Games helped deal with the misperceptions. If nothing else, that’s a plus.”

But Utah was hoping for far more than goodwill. After spending $59 million to build and upgrade winter sports venues, the state expects that investment to be repaid with increased tourism and business growth. During the Games, Gov. Mike Leavitt relentlessly schmoozed high-tech investors and venture capitalists and came away with a $120-million fund to develop biomedical and high-tech industry.

“It’s a mistake to think we did all that work for just 17 days,” said Natalie Hochner, Leavitt’s spokeswoman. “Since the Games, we have become a global brand. But we have to work our tails off to keep the economy going.”

Indeed, rather than blasting off, Utah’s economy has fizzled. According to recently released figures, passengers deplaning at Salt Lake International Airport during February declined, compared to the year before. Job growth in the state went down during the Olympic period, despite the 1,000 positions created by the Salt Lake Olympic Organizing Committee.

And, preliminary figures show that the SLOOC surplus--which the state would share--will be between $30 million and $40 million, nothing like the $80 million some had projected.

Perhaps the most painful aspect of Salt Lake’s Olympic hangover has been the lack of economic punch for the city, especially the depressed downtown.

As expected, business owners reported that February was a windfall month. The citywide hotel occupancy rate was 84%, compared to 66% in the same month the year before. State and local sales tax revenue increased 9% in February, and virtually every Main Street storefront was leased.

But since the Games, “Space Available” signs have popped up along the mall. Suburban dwellers who surprised themselves by bringing their families into town at night during the Games have gone back to staying home.

“We were really busy in February, which we expected, but we also expected that some of it would carry over. It hasn’t and it’s a bummer,” said Chauncey Webb, owner of the Main Street Coffee House, echoing the sentiments of dozens of business owners. “It’s worse than before. All our regulars aren’t out and about. Our business has really dropped off.”

Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson said he never claimed that the Olympics would transform the staid downtown corridor into a hip center of night life. But he did hope the Games would lure more people back downtown.

“Where we are now is that people saw the advantages of people from diverse cultures coming together, they came downtown at night and it was safe and there was parking and it was fun,” Anderson said. “That was a start. Trying to sustain that enthusiasm isn’t easy.”

The city is sponsoring weekly downtown events, Anderson said, and he’s trying to persuade shop owners to extend their hours to capture the night crowds. Bolstering these struggling businesses is a must, he said.

“I just met with my city planner, and we all agree our No. 1 priority is 100% occupancy of Main Street,” Anderson said.

Few expect to recapture that same festive atmosphere that enveloped the city during the Games, but many think it’s worth a try.

“Look around, it’s the middle of the day and it’s dead here,” complained Jo Stinson, a 20-something working at a coffee shop on Main.

“You want to know the best part of the Olympics? Saying to the people that live here, ‘Hello? This is what the rest of the world looks like! Wake up!’ There has been a definite drop in culture, you could say that. Man, I miss that.”